Boulder flooding could hurt local farmers

Boulder County farmers are dealing with varying levels of flooding, depending on where they're located, but all said that now is a particularly bad time for markets and stands to be shut down.

It's the height of the harvests for most summer crops, including tomatoes, corn and peppers, farmers said. But the rain kept people home from the Boulder County Farmers Market on Wednesday, and Thursday's flooding was making it hard for people to get to farm stands. The Boulder County Farmers Market also has canceled Saturday's markets in Boulder and Longmont.

Mark Guttridge, of Ollin Farms on 95th Street between Longmont and Niwot, said Left Hand Creek runs through the middle of the farm and is "larger than I have ever seen and honestly larger than I ever thought possible -- an incredible amount of water.

"One-hundred-year-old cottonwoods are snapping like toothpicks and washing away," he said. "This week's storms have already put the harvests and markets at a standstill, and now this."

Peter Voles, owner of Oxford Gardens, said he leases a field next to Left Hand Creek near Oxford Road in Niwot. About half the field was under water by midday Thursday.

"If the rain continues, probably the whole field will be under water," he said.

He said the plants can survive for a short time under water, but "more than a couple of days and we're probably in big trouble."

"We just don't know," he said.

Also uncertain of the fate of her crops is Amy Tisdale, who owns Red Wagon Organic Farm at North 63rd Street in Longmont. She said the irrigation ditch overflowed, gushing water into the holding pond that also overflowed.

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"There are rivers of water running through our fields and crops," she said. "Many of our crops are under water, and we're not sure if they will survive all of this water."

Robert Munson, of Munson Farms at 75th Street and Valmont Road, said his vegetables are grown on hillsides, so it's wet and muddy but not under water. But, he said, not many customers are coming out to buy corn, tomatoes, green beans and peaches. He said they picked 60 bushels of corn early Thursday morning and that it's "unbelievably good."

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